Sometimes she wondered whether she should start knocking before entering her own aeroplane. To be fair, walking in on her son snogging one of her pilots wasn't something she would have deemed within the realms of possibility, until that was precisely what happened.
Arthur didn't utter a single word on the drive home, not even to play yellow car. Well done, Carolyn, she thought to herself. Now you're stuck with that unwanted image in your brain, and a mortified son who seems to think he's somehow incurred in your disapproval.
Well, she would make sure to let the two idiots alone at the first available opportunity; thank goodness Arthur was the type to bounce back quite quickly, and she was confident that the awkwardness would soon be over.
She should have known that Martin Crieff would prove her wrong on that count.
The ridiculous man seemed to make a point of avoiding Arthur during their next flights, to the extent that even Douglas stopped teasing him about it and started to look a tiny bit concerned about the unprecedented levels of awkwardness that were reached whenever the steward brought them coffee.
Arthur didn't comment on it, but he wasn't his usual cheerful self either; and though she had promised herself never to interfere in her son's love life, Carolyn was starting to feel like she was currently interfering with it simply by virtue of being Martin's employer. Which wasn't something she was willing to tolerate at all.
Martin looked far from happy when he was finally summoned in Carolyn's office; he stood in front of her twisting his hat between his hands and looking acutely uncomfortable, which was saying something given how flustered he was on any ordinary day.
"Look, I'm sorry," he started, only to be immediately silenced by a commanding gesture of her hand. He snapped his mouth shut and waited for her to speak.
"Martin, remind me if you please of your actual age?"
"You know perfectly well I'm thirty-six, Carolyn," her useless pilot spluttered in surprise. "What's that got to do with – anything?"
She rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Well, my son is twenty-nine and a half. Do you know what that means?"
Martin stared at her for a long moment, then silently shook his head.
"It means you've both long since reached the age of consent – yes, even Arthur. And while I recommend you keep your activities, such as they are, away from GERTI, I would like you to know that I regard them as none of my business."
Looking very much like a deer caught in the headlights, Martin nodded and made for a cautious retreat; it was only when he reached the door that he dared to turn around and mutter a hasty 'thank you' before disappearing.
Well, that was it, Carolyn decided as she grabbed her scarf and marched out of the Portakabin. She required something stronger than coffee after such a conversation, and she reckoned that a double gin and tonic at The Hose and Hydrant would probably do the trick.
Preferably if she could get Douglas to buy her drink.